Australia's new data centres must be majority renewable powered, says minister

Beetaloo Energy Australia

05/08/2026 09:42

    * Gas-only data centres will fail national standards and
cannot register, Bowen says
    * Canberra's proposed policy mandates data centres build new
renewable power rather than draw from grid
    * Beetaloo says 1 gigawatt of data centre capacity would
need 200 terajoules of gas daily

    By Peter Hobson and Helen Clark
    CANBERRA/PERTH, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Australia’s energy
minister Chris Bowen said on Wednesday that plans by the
Northern Territory to use its large-scale shale gas resources to
power data centres would run counter to proposed national
standards, casting doubt over the Territory's ambition to
attract multi-billion dollar tech investments.
    Recent proposed policy from Canberra has mandated data
centres must build new renewable sources of power rather than
pulling electricity from the grid. Both Queensland and the
Northern Territory have backed gas-fired power for data centres.
    “If a data centre (is) proposed to only use gas, it will not
meet the minimum national standards, and it won't be allowed to
register,” Bowen said in response to a Reuters question.
    Canberra’s new rules envisage centres being issued with
renewable energy certificates. 
    He was speaking after a National Press Club address in which
he announced a new rooftop solar scheme.
    The Northern Territory last month awarded 185 hectares (457
acres) of land near the capital Darwin to Beetaloo Digital to
develop a 2-gigawatt data centre, which its parent company
Beetaloo Energy  BTL.AX  plans to support with power from shale
gas resources  it is developing in the Beetaloo sub-Basin. It
estimated generating 1 gigawatt of power would require 200
terajoules of gas per day.
    By comparison, Shell's  SHEL.L  development of coal seam gas
resources in Queensland announced on Wednesday was expected to
produce 84 TJ of gas a day. 
    "It has the potential to complement the Darwin Energy Hub’s
planned large-scale solar generation and battery storage by
providing firm generation capacity," a Beetaloo spokesperson
said but declined to comment directly on what Bowen said. He did
not give guidance on the planned proportion of gas to renewable
energy used. 
    Beetaloo has said its data centre could attract up to A$40
billion ($28.17 billion) in private investment. 
    Reports from the Climate Change Authority already suggest
Australia may not meet its 2035 target of a 62% to 70% reduction
in carbon emissions over 2005 levels, without factoring in large
new projects. 
    Bowen said gas would be allowed to play a role in "firming"
or backing up more intermittent renewable energy supply, but gas
power should remain mostly dormant.
    “I think that's pretty sensible.” 
     
    ($1 = 1.4198 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Peter Hobson in Canberra and Helen Clark in
Perth;
Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
 ((mailto:helen.clark@thomsonreuters.com;))